Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has welcomed
Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki’s move to “stop receiving pensions from
Kwara state, where he was the governor between 2003 and 2011, and urges
him to join us in the campaign to end the unjust, unfair and
discriminatory practice of providing life pensions to former governors and
to abolish laws that make this possible.”
Saraki told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja yesterday
that he wrote a letter to the state government to stop the payment of the
pension “the moment I saw that SERAP allegation.” He said, “No, I’m not
collecting pension; the moment I saw that allegation, I wrote to my state
to stop my pension.”
In a statement today by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni the
organization said, “It’s good news that Dr Saraki has publicly made known
that he has stopped drawing pensions from Kwara state. We hope that other
public officials still receiving double emoluments will follow Dr Saraki’s
example and renounce such practice. We also urge the Senate President to
publicly commit to donating to charities of his choice all pensions and
allowances he has so far collected or to such emoluments to the public
treasury.”
SERAP also asked “the Senate President to use his leadership position to
urgently facilitate a resolution by the National Assembly condemning the
practice and laws on double pay and life pensions for former governors now
serving public officials; urging state assemblies to abolish such laws;
and calling on those that have received such emoluments to return them to
the public treasury.”
SERAP urged “Dr Saraki to work with us to put meaningful pressure on other
states to abolish their unfair and discriminatory life pensions laws as
well as on serving senators and ministers who continue to receive double
emoluments to end the practice and return all the emoluments they have so
far received to the public treasury. Dr Saraki can start by putting
pressure on the governor of Kwara state Mr Abdulfatah Ahmed and the state
house of assembly to move swiftly to abolish the law that has facilitated
the payment of the unjust pensions in the first place.”
It would be recalled that SERAP had last week in an open letter called on
the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) to within
seven days challenge the legality of states’ laws allowing former
governors to draw life pensions from their states.
The letter dated 14 July 2017 read in part: “Public interest is not well
served when government officials such as former governors, deputies
supplement their emoluments in their current positions with life pensions
and emoluments drawn from their states’ meagre resources, and thereby
prioritising their private or personal interests over and above the
greatest happiness of the greatest number.”
“By signing such double emoluments and large benefits laws which they knew
or ought to know that they would be beneficiaries, these former governors
have abused their entrusted public functions and positions, and thereby
obtained an undue advantage, contrary to article 19 of the UN Convention
against Corruption.”
“These states’ laws allowing former governors to receive life pensions
either now or in the future have a discriminatory purpose that involves an
intent to discriminate against ordinary workers and pensioners. Such laws
enhance the economic status of public officials and their families at the
expense of the citizens that they are elected to serve, have no legitimacy
at all, and cannot be justified either on legal or moral grounds.”
“SERAP is concerned that such laws have either the purpose or the effect
of denying the citizens their right to the enjoyment of their
commonwealth, and as such, prolonging the existing and entrenched
poverty-gaps across the country. The implementation of these laws will
continue to lock the citizens, especially the most marginalized and
vulnerable groups, into lives of deprivation and hopelessness.”
“SERAP holds the firm view that there are clear casual and consequential
links between implementation of unfair life pensions’ laws for former
governors and violation of human dignity of citizens. Such laws deprive
citizens of resources, capabilities, freedoms and choices necessary for
the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and sustainable
livelihood.”
“The abolition of such laws therefore is a necessary first step towards
delivering on the constitutional promise of equal protection and equal
benefit of the law for a distressingly large number of Nigerians.
Otherwise, public officials will remain seriously out of touch with a
major source of poverty and discrimination in the country.”